The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 624 (May 29 - June 11 2024)

Opinion
Page14 TheTrumpet MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
Celebrating Ken Calebs
Olumese, The Guv’nor, at 80
Continued from Page 12<
and Butter and another club called
Princes. On Allen Avenue, Jerry Jones
Anazia ran a night club called Ace. On
Toyin Street, there was Climax, with a
DJ called Stagger Lee. In those days
of course, there was Shrine, the main
watering hole for night crawlers, and
beyond Ikeja, all the way towards
Ojuelegba, there was a long list of fun
spots including pepper soup joints
such as Igbinedion, or Fafolu: point
and kill joint, No. 67 Bode Thomas in
Surulere, Empire Hotel, Tarmac.
Many would also remember Kakadu
Nite Club in Alagomeji, Yaba, where
Fela used to perform in the 60s, and
Bobby Benson’s Caban Bamboo,
which in many ways was the old
version of what the Niteshift Coliseum
later became. There was at some point
Paradiso in Yaba, Faze 2, Lord’s Club
around Maryland, and Hotspot Club at
Abibu Oki, off Broad Street. Basically,
for a while, the Lagos social scene was
a mix of band life, joints and
discotheques. The latter would later
prevail.
Ken Calebs Olumese changed the
face of night life in Lagos, particularly
with the rise of the discotheque, which
he capitalized upon turning Niteshift
Coliseum into a space where the
hottest and latest music could be
heard. He invested heavily in music
and equipment. He raised the bar to
such a level that others began to learn
from him, and even copy him. He
changed the game. Even when there
was a seeming rivalry between Lagos
Island and the Mainland, the arrival of
Niteshift Coliseum gave nightlife on
the Mainland, an edge. What Olumese
did was simply to be different. He
carved a niche and constantly
reinvented it. Whereas you could go to
Ozone, DeRoof, Klass and Climax and
run into celebrities and prominent
persons, mingling with others, dressed
in both formal and bohemian attires,
Olumese made it clear from the very
beginning that his club was meant for
the middle class and the upper middleclass
members of society. It was an
exclusive club and there were rules.
There was a man at the door, “The
First Man” who would not even allow
you to buy a ticket if you looked out
of place. Jeans, slippers, any form of
scruffy dressing were not allowed.
You didn’t have to wear a tie, but you
were required to appear decent.
The club also had different
segments. There was an exclusive
section reserved for Senior Fellows of
the Gold Card Sector. This was a
section reserved for prominent
persons, diplomats, captains of
industry on a discreet night out. The
lighting for that section was also
deliberately dim. And there was the
Section for the Glamour Boys (later -
and Girls) of Nigeria: the reserved
section for the upwardly mobile in
society, but even then you had to be
admitted as a member to sit there. In
the general hall was the popular
section. The status of a guest or
member was indicated in the colour of
the glass with which you were served.
The staff were trained to know the
differences. Everyone wanted to be
part of the Niteshift crowd. Usually,
when people left other clubs, they
ended up at the Coliseum. The food
was good. The air-conditioning was
the coldest in the business. To add to
the snobbery, Niteshift did not use the
same terms as other clubs. Its
bathrooms were called “The Vanity”
for example. The hostesses wore
something called “Oriental
Ornamental.” The Dee Jay was “The
Flight Captain” sitting in “The
Cockpit.” And the entire night was a
cruise. Olumese was the master of
razzmatazz.
He had a personal touch that could
not be found among other club
owners. He knew most of the regular
clientele personally, and took an
interest in their personal lives. He
served drinks, and could be found
correcting any error by any of his staff.
His dressing was impeccable. From
his hair cut to his shoes, he paid
attention to every detail. He drank
Remy Martin, and he could hold his
drink. He was very generous to his
guests. For young persons and others
close to him, the first drink was always
on the house, and in the morning, the
club served tea or coffee on the house
depending on individual choices.
There were days patrons stayed in the
club till 7 am, not knowing it was
daybreak. The Guv’nor of Niteshift
Coliseum actively cultivated the
friendship of the media. He knew
every entertainment, arts and culture
reporter and editor on the beat. He was
similarly friendly with publishers and
editors. He had one or two friends in
every newsroom. Journalists were
understandably some of the more
prominent members of the club, and
through this connection Niteshift
became a place of choice for many
media events. There were times
however when he had issues with
journalists. He protected the privacy of
celebrities who came to the club
jealously and he would not hesitate to
quarrel with any journalist who
published gossip about any of his
patrons. He used to quip that the club
does not ask for marriage certificates.
It is place of fun, not a church. Funny
enough, Olumese is the son of an
Anglican priest.
Niteshift was not just about disco.
The Guv’nor was constantly reinventing
the concept. There was in
due course a full Niteshift band, which
mixed the idea of disco with live
performance. There was also the
Niteshift Musical Talent Show, on the
platform of which the club provided
space for the flowering of many
talents including Felix and Moses,
Tuface, Tony Tetuila, Tony Montana,
Eedris Abdulkareem, Platanshun
Boys, Sunny Neji, Daddy Showkey,
Nel Oliver. There was also Miss
Niteshift beauty pageant. Niteshift was
also the watering hole for many
Nollywood artists – actors, actresses
and producers. But the high point
arrived in the early 90s when the club
was moved from 21 Opebi Street to a
bigger, more permanent space, the
purpose-built Coliseum at 21
Salvation Road, off Opebi. At this
new location, the club had more space,
more meeting rooms, a bigger dance
floor, more of everything: an
impressive edifice that was a
testament to the success of the club,
and the dogged vision of the founder.
There was even a place called The
Dacha: a block of 12 rooms reserved
exclusively for the use of members.
The major highlight at the Coliseum
was the increased focus on a special
programme which Olumese had
introduced at the 21 Opebi address -
the Grand House Reception (GHR).
This further differentiated the Niteshift
Coliseum from its peers. The GHR
was an evening of interaction with
major public figures. It was a huge hit
which attracted exactly the clientele
that the Guv’nor wanted. Some of the
prominent persons who featured on
the platform included, to cite just a
few: Chief Emeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Fela
Anikulapo Kuti, Beko Ransome-Kuti,
Alhaji Tafa Balogun, Mallam Nasir el-
Rufai, Governor Gbenga Daniel,
Governor Segun Osoba, Governor
Orji Kalu, Chief Lucky Igbinedion,
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu… H. E.
Flt Lt. Jerry Rawlings, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar… and others.
Ken Olumese kept raising the bar,
and he was good at research, and
monitoring the competition. I was one
of the Glamour Boys of the Club,
having joined that section sometime
around 1989. I would later end up as
one of the club’s major resource
persons. I can conveniently report that
I was actively involved. On many
occasions we visited other clubs,
before the start of business at the
Coliseum. There were occasions when
the Guv’nor would arrange for us to
go on a West Africa tour. We were in
Ghana again and again to attend
different night clubs and observe their
operations. We used to travel on
Wednesday and return on Monday.
Niteshift Coliseum would also
eventually introduce a Wednesday
programme, a Ladies night, free entry
for ladies and other programmes to
boost the clientele.
In 2011, I left for Abuja on national
assignment. By the time I returned in
2015, circumstances had changed on
the Lagos night scene. The pulse had
shifted from the Mainland to the
Island, with new clubs patronized by
the nouveaux riche and the Gen Z
springing up on the other side of the
city. Ken Calebs Olumese was also
advancing in age. He has since retired
and rented out the premises of the
Niteshift Coliseum to another
entertainment group called Floating
World. Indeed, we live in a world that
floats. But the Niteshift dream would
be remembered for its impact and
longevity. Many ventures of its type
have short mortality rates, but Ken
Calebs Olumese kept it going for more
than two decades, even after the club
was razed down in a mysterious
midnight fire on December 18, 2003.
It was a brilliant run, still and long is
the echo of the Niteshift Bugaloo, the
opening sequence of the club at 12
midnight, taken from the song by the
Commodores of the same title:
Nightshift. Happy Birthday, Guv’nor.
Lord Have Mercy!